Presidential Nominations

RedDog

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My DD only has a Presidential nomination, and I realize that only 100 slots will be charged in this category. My question is will she compete on the National Waiting List too, or is that only for MOC nominations? Thank you.
 
How is the 100 slots based?
Is it by how fast your application goes in or something else?
 
Also- sorry but could someone explain the whole process of obtaining the presidential nomination? and anyone who qualifies- do they automatically get it?
 
I'll try to answer your questions in order.

1. Yes; if your son or daughter has a presidential nomination, and they weren't lucky enough to get one of the 100 appointments USING that nomination; (Just like how 1 appointment is given out for a MOC's list of 10, 100 appointments are given out for the many hundreds of presidential nominations); then YES, the non-appointed will go into the "National Pool". CAVEAT!!!! (There always is). I haven't checked the actual numbers or percentages in a long time, but I believe that after all the various "SLATES" have given out the appointments and it's time to turn to the "National Pool" to FILL THE REMAINDER OF THE CLASS; that a certain percentage of the remaining appointments coming from the national pool are from candidates with MOC nominations and another percentage are for those with military related nominations. Hence; another reason for getting as many nominations as you can. The actual percentage of appointments in the national pool per nomination I can't remember. Don't quote me, but I think it's close to 75% of the appointments from the national pool come from MOC nominees and the other 25% come from Military affiliated nominees like Presidential, ROTC, etc. Also; remember, that any appointment from the National Pool; even though they MUST have a nomination to even be in the pool, DOESN'T COUNT TOWARDS THE NOMINATING SLATE. E.g. any appointment from the national pool doesn't count towards a MOC's maximum limit of 5 cadets at the academy. S/He could have 5 SLATED cadets at the academy and hypothetically 10 more that happen to have gotten in from the national pool.

2. The 100 presidential APPOINTMENTS are given out the exact same way, (Most Times), that the traditional MOC slated appointments are given out. The academy ranks the candidates with presidential nominations, and they give one of the 100 to the top candidates. CAVEAT!!! (What else is new). The majority of those with a presidential nomination, probably have a MOC nomination also. In these cases, the academy will TRY to use MOC slates first and save the 100 presidentials until last. This way if they have candidate that has a presidential, they don't have any other, and this candidate is VERY COMPETITIVE and the academy REALLY WANTS THEM, they'll have one of the 100 to use. If this isn't possible, there's still the (National Pool). Also, the presidentials appointment slots are also used when practical for offering VERY COMPETITIVE CANDIDATES and EARLY APPOINTMENT to lock them in before they are accepted at another school. Example: Most MOC's don't even interview until November/December. If an applicant got their application finished in August/September and they have a presidential nomination, and they happen to be part of the "NO BRAINER CLUB" with a 3.95-4.0 gpa; 30+ ACTs; hundreds of hours of volunteer time; 2-3 sport Varsity Letter athlete; Captain of one or more of those teams; also class leader like president, secretary, etc, did boy/girl state, is involved in 2-3 clubs, and academically was in the IB program or did all AP classes; etc... (NO BRAINER CLUB), then the academy will use one of those 100 appointments with the presidential EARLY to get the individual to commit and not accept or even apply to other schools. These are the individuals that NO MATTER WHERE they apply for college; they'll probably get accepted. With scholarships. For those in this same application category who DON'T HAVE a presidential, these are some of the rare few who might receive an LOA and the hope that they'll get a nomination. (Not talking LOA's for recruited athletes).

3. How do you get a presidential nomination. Basically; you need to be the 1st generation dependent of an retired military parent or active duty parent with at least 8 years. I say 1st generation because, grandparents, uncles, aunts, older brother/sister, etc. do not count. Must be the candidate's MOM or DAD who is retired military and receiving benefits; or are still on active duty with more than 8 years. CAVEAT: (Yea, Yea). Presidentials are also open to dependents of reservists. But it is based on POINTS. How many POINTS the reservist Mom or Dad have. I don't have the exact number of points needed. Sorry. The other part of this question is simple. ANYONE who qualifies for a presidential nomination simply fills out a basic letter and SNAIL MAILS it to the Air Force Academy. They verify you are eligible, and you receive a presidential nomination. It doesn't matter if only 50 apply or 5000 apply. ALL ELIGIBLE WILL RECEIVE THE NOMINATION. Doesn't mean they'll receive an appointment. Just means they'll receive a nomination. Hypothetically, if only 75 people qualified and applied for the presidential and all 75 of course received the nomination; and there are 100 appointments given to presidential nominees, that doesn't mean you're automatically going to receive an appointment. You may not meet all of the academy's requirements.

Same thing happens with MOC nominations. There are plenty who receive MOC nomination and even LOA's, but because they aren't 100% qualified, they DON'T RECEIVE and appointment.

Hope this explains your questions. Mike
 
When do they typically send out the Presidential Nominations? I applied and know I qualified, but am still waiting to hear back, months after sending it in...Someone said it wasn't usually until "very late in the process", but what does that mean? February? March? April?
 
Thanks Christcorp! I appreciate the time and effort you put into the response. Still in the game!
 
I'll try to answer your questions in order.

Also, the presidentials appointment slots are also used when practical for offering VERY COMPETITIVE CANDIDATES and EARLY APPOINTMENT to lock them in before they are accepted at another school. Example: Most MOC's don't even interview until November/December. If an applicant got their application finished in August/September and they have a presidential nomination, and they happen to be part of the "NO BRAINER CLUB" with a 3.95-4.0 gpa; 30+ ACTs; hundreds of hours of volunteer time; 2-3 sport Varsity Letter athlete; Captain of one or more of those teams; also class leader like president, secretary, etc, did boy/girl state, is involved in 2-3 clubs, and academically was in the IB program or did all AP classes; etc... (NO BRAINER CLUB), then the academy will use one of those 100 appointments with the presidential EARLY to get the individual to commit and not accept or even apply to other schools. These are the individuals that NO MATTER WHERE they apply for college; they'll probably get accepted. With scholarships. For those in this same application category who DON'T HAVE a presidential, these are some of the rare few who might receive an LOA and the hope that they'll get a nomination. (Not talking LOA's for recruited athletes).

What a great answer Christcorp! (As usual). My DD wrapped up her apps to USAFA and USNA back in August, and both Academies received and processed her Presidential nomination around the same time. USAFA offered her an appointment in October, a good month before she even interviewed for the Senatorial and MOC nominations. She has not accepted the appointment yet as she has not heard a peep from USNA. She does not want to accept USAFA now only to get an appointment from USNA down the road and then find herself reconsidering and making that difficult call back to USAFA that she is accepting USNA. BTW, she has a Presidential, Senatorial and Congressional nom for USNA, so I gotta think with her very early USAFA acceptance and sitting on three noms for USNA she should be in good shape. And USNA Admissions is aware of her USAFA appointment. Sure wish though that the service academies would work with each other a bit on this as theoretically she could be waiting till April to hear from USNA while sitting on a USAFA appointment for 6 months by then. Hope to hear from USNA soon. Either way, this girl will not make a bad choice (though this retired USAF officer has his own opinion :rolleyes:...100% her call though). Thanks again for the great post!!!
 
Thanks so much for your help!!!!
Another quick clarification- since I'm new to the entire process- can you explain the difference between the presidential nomination and the presidential appointment?
 
When do they typically send out the Presidential Nominations? I applied and know I qualified, but am still waiting to hear back, months after sending it in...Someone said it wasn't usually until "very late in the process", but what does that mean? February? March? April?

You need to contact your academy counselor. Ask her/him the status of your presidential. Most people see in their online application under nominations "Presidential" if they have it. Most people definitely see it by now. When my son applied; 7 years ago; his application showed it within a few weeks. (August). So definitely call the academy and check on it.

Thanks so much for your help!!!!
Another quick clarification- since I'm new to the entire process- can you explain the difference between the presidential nomination and the presidential appointment?

The difference is just like with your MOC nomination. 10 people receive a nomination from your MOC. ONLY 1 RECEIVES AN APPOINTMENT from that slate. The remaining 9 go into the national pool.

For a presidential, instead of a slate of 10 nomination, the slate on average can have 400, 500, 600 nominations on the slate. Of which 100 RECEIVES AN APPOINTMENT from that slate. The remaining HUNDREDS go into the national pool. (Unless they also had other nominations like the MOC and happen to have received the 1 appointment from THAT slate.
 
When do they typically send out the Presidential Nominations? I applied and know I qualified, but am still waiting to hear back, months after sending it in...Someone said it wasn't usually until "very late in the process", but what does that mean? February? March? April?

Bailey, are you asking when they send out Appointment under Presidential Nominations, or is your Presidential Nomination not showing up on your portal?

If its the first, Presidential Appointees could hear about an appointment anytime from when their app is complete (ie JUVAT's DD heard in October) or not until March or April.

If your nomination is not showing up on your portal, you should contact your admissions counselor at USAFA. This usually only takes a few weeks to show up. Maybe they didn't recieve it. Or there is something missing in the documentation. How are you qualified for Presidential? Did you send in the correct qualifying documents? Def. check up on it!
 
I asked if my counselor received the documents, and she said yes, she did. Other than that, haven't heard anything else regarding the presidential nom. My Dad served 22 years full time national guard and is now retired receiving pay. He and I looked through all of the documents and he made sure I got the right ones in. I am worried about bugging my counselor too much about the nomination, but am worried that it has not yet showed up... Is it possible my Dad was NOT eligible?
 
Well, there's 2 lines of thought here.

1) Call your counselor again, and this time mention that you know they received the paperwork, but specifically ask them WHY it hasn't shown up on your online portal. Ask if it's possible that your father isn't eligible. Honestly, I don't know what the rules are for "Guard Members". Especially considering they are owned by the "State" for a lack of a better term. Whereby one of the main reasons for the presidential nomination was for military members and their families who move a lot and don't have the same social contacts and opportunities that a permanent child does. Same with reservists who can be moved around the country. But if guard members are eligible for their dependents to receive a presidential nomination, then I'm sure it's based on some sort of point system like the reserves. So call and ask to clarify.

2) Second line of thought might be that it's out of your hand; especially if you do have a MOC Nomination(s). But as most people know, the more nominations you have, the better your chances are. Just like a lottery ticket. You can only win 1 prize (Appointment), but the more lottery tickets you buy, the better chance you have. So, decide whether to call your counselor back or not. That's the only way you're going to know the answer. There isn't one person here on this forum that will be able to answer that question for you or tell you anything that will make you feel better.

best of luck. Mike
 
Well, there's 2 lines of thought here.

1) Call your counselor again, and this time mention that you know they received the paperwork, but specifically ask them WHY it hasn't shown up on your online portal. Ask if it's possible that your father isn't eligible. Honestly, I don't know what the rules are for "Guard Members". Especially considering they are owned by the "State" for a lack of a better term. Whereby one of the main reasons for the presidential nomination was for military members and their families who move a lot and don't have the same social contacts and opportunities that a permanent child does. Same with reservists who can be moved around the country. But if guard members are eligible for their dependents to receive a presidential nomination, then I'm sure it's based on some sort of point system like the reserves. So call and ask to clarify.

2) Second line of thought might be that it's out of your hand; especially if you do have a MOC Nomination(s). But as most people know, the more nominations you have, the better your chances are. Just like a lottery ticket. You can only win 1 prize (Appointment), but the more lottery tickets you buy, the better chance you have. So, decide whether to call your counselor back or not. That's the only way you're going to know the answer. There isn't one person here on this forum that will be able to answer that question for you or tell you anything that will make you feel better.

best of luck. Mike
Thanks for the advice. I e-mailed her this afternoon and am waiting on a reply :)
 
The National Guard is considered a "reserve component" of the Army so his 22 years of service and retired status should qualify you for the Presidential Nom.
 
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